System and method for substantially removing chance from a word game comprising chance and skill

ABSTRACT

The system and methods of the present application comprise one or more computers for substantially removing the element of chance in a contest that would normally be on whose outcome would be determined by a mixture of chance and skill. The system comprises one or more computers that interact with a user in order to reduce or eliminate the elements of chance, thereby forcing the contest to obey the law of averages within a finite number of iterations of the contest, thereby reducing variance and increasing the success of skillful players.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/951,812, filed Nov. 22, 2010, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FORSUBSTANTIALLY REMOVING CHANCE FROM A MIXED CONTEST OF CHANCE AND SKILL,which in turn claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 61/263,574, filed Nov. 23, 2009, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FORSUBSTANTIALLY REMOVING CHANCE FROM A MIXED CONTEST OF CHANCE AND SKILL,each of which is incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of mixed games ofchance and skill, such as for example poker, whose outcomes depend inpart on the skill of the players, and in particular to the use of acomputer to reduce or eliminate the element of chance from a game.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Games of chance such as card games like poker and blackjack are widelyplayed in various casino facilities and online, such as over theInternet or other computer networks. Typically the players in atournament pay an entry fee, which allows them to sit at one of severaltables where they compete against other players at the table, and everyplayer in the tournament. At a table the players receive differentcards, and a table scores its results independently of the results atother tables. The outcome of for example a poker game or tournamentdepends to an extent upon the skill of the players, but also dependsupon chance, or how good are the cards that the players receive.

Games of chance such as card games are regulated by gambling laws inmany jurisdictions. Some jurisdictions, such as Nevada, currentlyprohibit on-line games of chance for money. Such laws were most likelymotivated by that legislature's desire to protect the brick-and-mortarestablishments that contribute so generously toward the elections ofsuch legislators. Other jurisdictions regulate, but do not prohibitcontests of skill. U.S. federal legislators enacted the UnlawfulInternet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA or The Act), that prohibits anyperson engaged in the business of betting or wagering from knowinglyaccepting payments in connection with the participation of anotherperson in unlawful Internet gambling. Federal regulators state that theAct generally defines “unlawful Internet gambling” as “placing,receiving, or otherwise knowingly transmitting a bet or wager by anymeans which involves the use, at least in part, of the Internet wheresuch bet or wager is unlawful under any applicable Federal or State lawin the State or Tribal lands in which the bet or wager is initiated,received, or otherwise made. The Act states that its provisions shouldnot be construed to alter, limit, or extend any Federal or State law orTribal-State compact prohibiting, permitting, or regulating gamblingwithin the United States. The Act does not spell out which activitiesare legal and which are illegal, but rather relies on the underlyingsubstantive Federal and State laws.” UIGEA as implemented by the FederalReserve System, 12 CFR Part 233, Regulation GG; Docket No. R-1298 andDepartment of the Treasury, 31 CFR Part 132, RIN 1505-AB78.

Traditionally, card games such as poker, rummy, bridge or other gamessuch as bingo are classified as games of chance or a mix of chance andskill. In most cases, the playing of games of chance for money or prizesis classified as gambling and therefore regulated or prohibited, and theoperators of such games may be found to be in violation of criminalstatutes. It is well-known that, to be classified as gambling, the gamemust be a game of chance where the outcome of the game is determinedpredominately or fully by the element of chance, there must be amonetary consideration to participate in the game and there must be theability to win money or monies having equal or greater value than thatof the consideration.

With the substantial reduction removal of the element of chance from agame, the game becomes a game of skill and in most cases a game of skilldoes not constitute gambling. The interpretation of skill as applied toa game is that a game can be considered skilful if a player cansignificantly affect the outcome of play as a result of his or her ownactions. Devices used for the purpose of gambling are basedpredominately on the element of chance and thus a player would havelittle or no control of the outcome of the game. Games of skill arecommonly played, and in particular there are methods for playing a gamesuch as poker as a game of skill.

To play cards as a game of skill, it is necessary that the randomgeneration of hands that are dealt to players in competition beeliminated. In traditional skill-based card games, the randomness ofdealt cards during the play of a game can be reduced by duplicating thehands dealt to players in the same tournament group, such that competingplayers on different tables playing hands have the opportunity to playidentical cards.

During the middle of the 20th century, the game of duplicate bridgebecame popular. In duplicate bridge, players at a table are dealt handsthat are subsequently passed on to another table, and then to anotherone, and so on. Consequently, a competing pair plays the same deals thatany number of other pairs play, with the differences in results beingthe basis for each pair's final score. Duplicate bridge began its risein the '30s and continues to be popular worldwide.

Other card games are currently played as games of skill using the sameprinciple used in duplicate bridge. The cards dealt are duplicated foreach player in a tournament group and for a player to win, they mustrely on their skill or speed. Speed may be the objective in games suchas skill bingo where the player that calls “bingo” first when a winningcard is discovered is deemed the winner.

In a duplicate poker tournament each table has only one member from eachtournament group and each tournament group is represented at each table.This enables players at a particular table to play different cards andmaintain game feel and playability while competing against players inthe identical seats at the other tournament tables who are playingidentical hands. For example, the players seated at seat #1 at eachtable are compared to determine how well they fared against the otherplayers at their table. The collection of players located at seat #1 ofeach table is designated as tournament group #1. Similarly, each otherseat number has a corresponding tournament group such that each tablehas the identical number of seats and therefore each tournament grouphas a representative seated at each table.

Another implementation of skill poker includes each player at a tableplaying identical hands and thus forming a tournament group, howeverthis implementation is less common as it does not maintain game feel andplayability. See U.S. Pat. No. 7,104,542, incorporated by referenceherein. However, duplicate poker has a drawback in that it must beplayed on more than one table, and played against players havingdifferent skill levels between the tables played thereon, thereby makingthe game unequal for participants whose performance is measured againsteach other in a particular group, because each player in a group isfaced with a different set of adversarial players.

Further, alternative chip scoring methods have been devised to scoresuch a duplicate poker game, which further deviates from the familiarityof a game played by well-known rules. See U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2007/0037623, incorporated by reference herein. In otherwords, while duplicate games may help reduce the effects of chance in agame, it is a different game with different scoring rules that mayreduce its popularity with the card playing public. What is needed is agame that follows the ordinary rules and scoring, yet reduces oreliminates the element of chance.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The system and methods of the present application comprise one or morecomputers for substantially removing the element of chance in a contestthat would normally be on whose outcome would be determined by a mixtureof chance and skill. The system comprises one or more computers thatinteract with a user in order to reduce or eliminate the elements ofchance, thereby forcing the contest to obey the law of averages within afinite number of iterations of the contest, thereby reducing varianceand increasing the success of skillful players.

In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for playersto play a card game at a computerized gaming table interface, the methodcomprising: a computer random-shuffling and dealing representations ofcards from a simulated deck to each player participating in the cardgame at the computerized gaming table interface, to enable the player toplay a hand in the card game; the computer determining a relativestrength of cards dealt to each player; the computer tracking relativestrength of previously played hands dealt to each player; and thecomputer creating an ordered arrangement of cards in one or more newdecks for subsequent hands to be played by the players, such that eachplayer is provided with an approximately equal chance of winning anequal number of hands when playing a plurality of hands dealt from thenew decks and the previously played hands.

In another aspect of the present invention, determining relativestrength of cards dealt to each player further comprises accounting forposition of each player and determining expectation value for a startinghand provided to a player in a particular seating position.

In another aspect of the present invention, creating the orderedarrangement further comprises equalizing the chances of winning a handat every point in the play of a previously played hand for each playerat the computerized gaming table.

In another aspect of the present invention, creating the orderedarrangement further comprises changing suits of a previously playedhand.

In another aspect of the present invention, creating the orderedarrangement further comprises changing the order of presentation of thecards in a new deck from a previously played hand.

In another aspect of the present invention, creating the orderedarrangement further comprises changing rank of cards from a previouslyplayed hand so that odds of winning a hand from a new deck issubstantially the same as a previously played hand.

In another aspect of the present invention, creating the orderedarrangement further comprises equalizing the odds of winning more thanone hand dealt from more than one new deck.

In yet another aspect, the present invention is directed to a computersystem enabling players to play a card game, comprising: a processor; amemory; a computerized gaming table interface comprising a display; andsoftware stored on a computer-readable medium which, when loaded and runby the processor, causes the processor to perform steps of:random-shuffling and dealing representations of cards from a simulateddeck to each player participating in the card game at the computerizedgaming table interface, to enable each player to play a hand in the cardgame; determining a relative strength of cards dealt to each player;tracking relative strength of previously played hands dealt to eachplayer; and creating an ordered arrangement of cards in one or more newdecks for subsequent hands to be played by the players, such that eachplayer is provided with an approximately equal chance of winning anequal number of hands when playing a plurality of hands dealt from thenew decks and the previously played hands.

In another aspect of the present invention, the software stored on acomputer-readable medium, when loaded and run by the processor, causesthe processor to perform additional steps of accounting for position ofeach player and determining expectation value for a starting handprovided to a player in a particular seating position.

In another aspect of the present invention, the software stored on acomputer-readable medium, when loaded and run by the processor, causesthe processor to perform additional steps of equalizing the chances ofwinning a hand at every point in the play of a previously played handfor each player at the computerized gaming table.

In another aspect of the present invention, the software stored on acomputer-readable medium, when loaded and run by the processor, causesthe processor to perform additional steps of changing suits of apreviously played hand.

In another aspect of the present invention, the software stored on acomputer-readable medium, when loaded and run by the processor, causesthe processor to perform additional steps of changing the order ofpresentation of the cards in a new deck from a previously played hand.

In another aspect of the present invention, the software stored on acomputer-readable medium, when loaded and run by the processor, causesthe processor to perform additional steps of changing rank of cards froma previously played hand so that odds of winning a hand from a new deckis substantially the same as a previously played hand.

In another aspect of the present invention, the software stored on acomputer-readable medium, when loaded and run by the processor, causesthe processor to perform additional steps of equalizing the odds ofwinning more than one hand dealt from more than one new deck.

In yet another aspect, the present invention is directed to a computersystem for playing a skill-based game of heads-up, no-limit Texashold'em poker tournament on the Internet between two players, the systemcomprising: a computer server comprising a memory; at least one player'scomputer in communication with the computer server through the Internet,comprising a display and user interface; and software stored on one ormore computer-readable media which, when loaded and run by the computerserver and the player's computer, causes the computer server to performsteps of: random-shuffling and dealing representations of cards from asimulated deck to each player participating in the heads-up, no-limitTexas hold'em poker tournament; determining a relative strength of holecards dealt to each player; tracking relative strength of previouslyplayed hands dealt to each player; and creating an ordered arrangementof cards in one or more new decks for subsequent hands to be played bythe two players, such that each player is provided with an approximatelyequal chance of winning an equal number of hands when playing aplurality of hands dealt from the new decks and the previously playedhands.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer architecture of apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that illustrates an interrelationship betweendata stored on a server computer and code modules used to run a skillgame and reduce or eliminate the element of chance;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart that illustrates a preferred method forsubstantially removing chance from a mixed contest of chance and skill;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are screen diagrams that illustrate a hand dealt by acomputer system;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are screen images that illustrate a new hand dealt bycomputer system, suitable for equalizing players' chances of winning;and

FIG. 6 illustrates examples of computer-readable media.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It is well known that a person who possesses superior skill playing incontests of mixed chance and skill will, over time, perform better thanthose persons of limited skill. The law of averages will eventuallyprovide a skilled player with the benefit of overcoming variance, orcolloquially, so-called “bad-beats.” But a skillful player may require ameasure of patience to endure variance over a large number of handsbefore ultimately succeeding.

The present invention comprises a system and methods for substantiallyremoving the element of chance in a contest that would normally be onwhose outcome would be determined by a mixture of chance and skill. Thesystem comprises one or more computers that interact with a user toreduce or eliminate the elements of chance, thereby forcing the contestto obey the law of averages over fewer iterations of the contest,thereby reducing variance and increasing the success of skillfulplayers.

The present invention may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components, code listings, optional selections and variousprocessing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocksmay be realized by any number of hardware and/or software componentsconfigured to perform the specified functions. For example, the presentinvention may employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memoryelements, processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and thelike, which may carry out a variety of functions under the control ofone or more microprocessors or other control devices.

Similarly, the software elements of the present invention may beimplemented with any programming or scripting language such as C, C++,C#, Java, COBOL, assembler, PERL, Visual Basic, Python, CGI, PHP or thelike, with the various algorithms being implemented with any combinationof data structures, objects, processes, routines or other programmingelements. The object code created for the computers can preferably beexecuted by any general purpose computer such as a personal computerhaving an appropriate operating system such as Windows™ or MAC™ and anappropriate browser such as Internet Explorer,™ Netscape™ or Safari.™

Further, it should be noted that the present invention may employ anynumber of conventional techniques for data transmission, signaling, dataprocessing, network control, and the like.

It should be appreciated that the particular implementations shown anddescribed herein are illustrative of the invention and its best mode andare not intended to otherwise limit the scope of the present inventionin any way. Indeed, for the sake of brevity, conventional datanetworking, application development and other functional aspects of thesystems (and components of the individual operating components of thesystems) may not be described in detail herein. Furthermore, theconnecting lines shown in the various figures contained herein areintended to represent exemplary functional relationships and/or physicalor virtual couplings between the various elements. It should be notedthat many alternative or additional functional relationships or physicalor virtual connections may be present in a practical electronic datacommunications system.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the presentinvention may be embodied as a method, a data processing system, adevice for data processing, and/or a computer program product.Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirelysoftware embodiment, an entirely hardware embodiment, or an embodimentcombining aspects of both software and hardware. Furthermore, thepresent invention may take the form of a computer program product on acomputer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program codemeans embodied in the storage medium. Any suitable computer-readablestorage medium may be utilized, including hard disks, CD-ROM, opticalstorage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or the like.

The present invention is described below with reference to blockdiagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus (e.g.,systems), and computer program products according to various aspects ofthe invention. It will be understood that each functional block of theblock diagrams and the flowchart illustrations, and combinations offunctional blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations,respectively, can be implemented by computer program instructions.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meansthat implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions that execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunctions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions,and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented byeither special purpose hardware-based computer systems that perform thespecified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions.

One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for security reasons,any databases, systems, or components of the present invention mayconsist of any combination of databases or components at a singlelocation or at multiple locations, wherein each database or systemincludes any of various suitable security features, such as firewalls,access codes, encryption, de-encryption, compression, decompression,and/or the like.

The scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claimsand their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given herein.For example, the steps recited in any method claims may be executed inany order and are not limited to the order presented in the claims.Moreover, no element is essential to the practice of the inventionunless specifically described herein as “critical” or “essential.”

System Architecture

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer architecture of apreferred embodiment of the present invention. In a preferredembodiment, the system and method of the present invention are directedto a computer in communication with a server through the Internet.Referring to FIG. 1, one or more client computers 110 and a servercomputer 130 are coupled over communication links 122, 124, respectivelyto network 150. Network 150 may comprise, for example, the Internet, awide area network (WAN), or a local area network (LAN). Together,software that executes on a client computer 110 and on server computer130 forms a client/server software system.

Client computer 110 comprises a processor 111, memory 112, userinterface 114 and a display 115. Memory 112 may also include persistentstorage 113. In a preferred embodiment, software on client computer 110comprises a Web browser 116, such as Internet Explorer,™ Netscape,™Firefox,™ Safari™ or other Web browser pre-loaded into memory 112 ofclient computer 110 or readily-available for download from the Internetinto memory 112. Such browsers retrieve Web pages 135 from a Web server130 in response to inputs on user interface 114. Web pages 135 areloaded into memory 112 and then rendered on display 115. In analternative embodiment, a dedicated, client-based application isinstalled on client computer 110, wherein such client-based applicationmay use alternate communication protocols from HTTP (hyper-text transferprotocol).

User interface 114 comprises controls that are preferably graphicallyrepresented buttons 137, with symbols commonly found in many Web pagesto permit entry of information or selection of actions. User interface114 may be a keyboard, mouse or other pointing device, or otherinformation or control input device that affects the operation of clientcomputer 110, as is well known in the art. User interface 114 may alsocomprise a microphone that provides the user with a means to conveydigitized audio information.

Display 115 comprises a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystaldisplay), or other visual display device as is commonly known in theart. Display 115 may further comprise speakers that receive digitizedaudio signals and emit audio output audible to the user. As is wellknown in the art, speakers may also be in a headset that comprises amicrophone.

Software on server computer 130 preferably comprises a Web serverapplication 132. Web server application 132 listens for TCP/IP(transport control protocol/Internet protocol) connections on awell-known port and receives standard HTTP (hyper-text transferprotocol) requests on that port that identifies particular URL(universal resource locator) that indicates Web pages 135 and otherinformation requested, typically by Web browser 116 on client computer110. Preferably, Web server application 132 comprises Apache and acollection of software modules that generate HTML (hyper-text markuplanguage) Web pages 135. In alternate embodiments, the functionsperformed by server computer 130 are split among several servercomputers, for example, having components of Web server application 132executed on computers different from database server application 142(described below). Furthermore, these servers may be geographicallyseparated and, for example, coupled through network 150.

In addition, server computer 130 includes a database 140 that includesinformation related to people and books. A database server application142 is coupled to database 140 and provides an interface to theinformation stored in database 140 to other application software modulesthat execute on server computer 130. In a preferred embodiment, database140 is a relational database, which includes a number of interrelatedtables. Database server application 142 is preferably an SQL (structuredquery language) server that accepts queries according to an SQL syntaxand provides responses to those queries. Database server application 142can perform stored database procedures 144 comprising complex queriesstored in SQL syntax on server computer 130. Such queries may involvemultiple fetching processes from more than one table in the tables thatcomprise database 140. Stored database procedures 144 are stored in afile system on server computer 130.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates only one server computer 130 and one clientcomputer 110 in communication through network 150, it should beunderstood that different numbers of computers may be utilized, at thevery least, one client computer per game player. In one example, thenetwork 150 may include a plurality of network computers and tens orhundreds of computers, all of which may be interconnected via thenetwork 150. In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of client computers110 are able to simultaneously connect to the server 130. Thecommunication links 122, 124 may be provided as a dedicated hardwiredlink or a wireless link. Although the communication links 122, 124 areshown as a single data link, they may comprise multiple data links.

The networked computers, client computer 110 and server computer 130,may be provided in many different geographic locations including a home,a casino, a cruise ship, different areas of the same city, or they maybe located in different states or even countries. Network 150 mayinclude a plurality of network computers or server computers (notshown), each of which may be operatively interconnected. Where thenetwork 150 comprises the Internet, data communication may take placeover communication links via an Internet communication protocol (UDP/IPor TCP/IP). Where the network 150 comprises a wireless network, datacommunication may take place over communication links via a wirelessdata protocol such as CDMA2000 or W-CDMA. Similarly, where the networkcommunications comprise data, voice and video, communication may takeplace via an Internet communication protocol or a wireless protocol.

System Operation

The following discussion describes the methods performed by theinventive system. To provide context, the operation of an exemplary,preferred embodiment of client/server application 132 and databaseserver application 142 are described. The description is based on thatactions that the computers will perform when the applications are loadedand run.

But first, it should be noted that it is impracticable to play somegames in the physical world. The use of physical gaming cards introducesa massive amount of organization that would be needed for even a smallpoker club to operate. With games of chance, shuffling the deck of cardsis used to quickly randomize cards and dealing are straightforwardactivities. In a gambling scenario, it is well known that many hands canbe played in even a one-hour period. To implement a game of skill andreduce or eliminate chance, however, the organization of hands in newdecks to be dealt for each tournament is required. A typical poker gamesuch as Texas Hold'em can play approximately 30 hands in a one hourperiod and this translates to 3,000 hands played in a tournament of 100players per hour, which is typical for a medium sized poker club. Thisextrapolates to approximately 72,000 pre-ordered hands that must becreated to accommodate a medium sized poker house for one 24-hour periodof playing time. It can be seen that since the organization of cardsneeded to play a game of skill can become a time consuming task, aconvenient method would be needed to feasibly implement a tournament ofskill poker. Such convenience is achieved and the present inventivegaming methods that may only be made possible through the use of ahigh-speed computing apparatus.

Conventional games of chance such as poker and blackjack have associatedwith them strict rules to combat cheating by the players or collusionbetween the players and the dealer. Even with random card shuffling,players may identify patterns of cards that are not shuffled properly ordealers may replace a random deck with a pre-ordered deck for thepurpose of cheating the house odds. Gambling organizations such ascasinos are required to employ staff who monitor gaming tables as amethod of preventing cheating and collusion between players and betweenplayers and dealers. This increases the overhead required to run aphysical gambling organization. Furthermore, there is no easy way ofauditing the proper distribution of physical cards in play, as the cardorder in the deck is unknown and untraceable without physicalsurveillance. The use of preordered randomized hands in games of skillhelps to eliminate dealer collusion in physical card games. However ifthe dealer, or anyone in general, is responsible for pre-ordering thecards there is a chance for foul play. The proper use of a machine forpre-ordering cards and for automated dealing of cards can thus eliminatedealer collusion and chances for foul play.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that illustrates an interrelationship betweendata stored on a server computer and code modules used to run a skillgame and reduce or eliminate the element of chance. Referring to FIG. 2,Web pages 135 comprise at least two types of pages. One type are staticWeb pages 210, that are HTML format pages passed on by serverapplication 132 direct to a requesting Web browser without modification.The other type are dynamic or active server pages 220. An active serverpage 220 includes a procedure specification that, when requested by aWeb browser, is executed under the control of server application 132rather than being directly passed to the Web browser. Execution of theprocedure specified by an active server page 220 produces HTML formattedinformation that is passed by server application 132 to a Web browser.In a preferred embodiment, active server pages 220 can be generated by aVisual Basic language procedure, CGI scripts, or a procedure written insome other programming or scripting language such as java, pert, pythonor php, that are executed under the control of server application 132.

Active server pages 220 can include references to services provide bydatabase server application 142. For instance, a Visual Basic procedurein active server page 220 accesses database server application 142through an API (application program interface) for the database serverapplication. During execution of the stored procedure, serverapplication 132 can access data stored in database 140. Active serverpages 220 can also include references to stored database procedures 230.Each stored database procedure 230 includes one or more SQL statements.Server application 132 invokes a stored database procedure 230 duringexecution of an active server page 220. Database server application 142controls the execution of stored database procedure 230 to provide datato server application 132. Together, static Web pages 210, active serverpages 220, and stored database procedures 230 provide the information togenerate Web pages through which a user interacts with the system.Alternatively, a dedicated, client-based application can interact withserver application 132 directly, without use of a Web browser.

Database 140 includes a number of separate tables. For example, atournament table 240 includes information related to various tournamentgames being run on system 130. Like all tables in a database, tournamenttable 240 is dynamic in that it can be modified, for example, as newgames are started or as the status of various games are modified orupdated.

Database 140 also includes a starting hand ranking table 242 thatincludes information about the relative strength of starting hands thatmay be dealt to players in a tournament game. For example, it iswell-known that an expectation value (EV) can be calculated for astarting hand comprising two cards in the popular game of Texas Hold'em.See, e.g., “Poker Hand Ranking Chart” atwww.tightpoker.com/poker_hands.html (viewed Nov. 22, 2009), incorporatedby reference herein. In a further example, when there is more than twoplayers in a Texas Hold'em game, a player's position will affect theirexpectation value, and therefore the relative hand strength. See, e.g.,“Expected Value chart by position” atwww.tightpoker.com/hands/ev_position.html (viewed Nov. 22, 2009),incorporated by reference herein.

Database 140 also includes a card history table 245 is used to keeptrack of the various card hands dealt to players participating in thetournament games. The relative strength of hands dealt, as explainedabove, may be ascertained and a history of such cards dealt may bemaintained in table 245. Computer system 130 may keep track of the cardsdealt in a game using table 245, and may generate, in advance of beingdealt, future arrangements of card decks stored in future deck table 248such that the relative hand strength of cards dealt to each player isadjusted so that the percentage odds of winning each hand is equalizedover the course of a plurality of hands to be dealt.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart that illustrates a preferred method forsubstantially removing chance from a mixed contest of chance and skill.In step 310, illustrated in FIG. 3, computer system 130 randomizesshuffling and deals one or more hands to players participating in whatwould normally would be a game of chance, such as a card game.

In step 320, computer system 130 determines the relative hand strengthof the cards dealt to each player, and the odds that each player has ofwinning the hand based on the cards dealt. In step 330, computer system130 keeps track of each hand dealt in the game, the relative strength ofthe hands dealt to each player, and the percentage chance of each playerto win the hand, based on the cards dealt.

After a number of hands have been dealt, in step 340, computer system130 determines whether any players at the game table have come or gone.If no players have changed, control passes to step 350, where computersystem 130 will generate future decks of cards such that after suchdecks are dealt and played, each player will have had the sameopportunity, expectation value, or odds to win the same number of handsas the other players at the game table. Thus, an accumulation of score,chips or points will be determined by the player's skill, rather thanthe luck of the draw. Control then loops through the play of such decksin steps 330, 340 and 350 until one or more players are eliminated fromthe game.

In step 360, the tournament is adjusted for the loss of the players thathave “busted out,” or have been eliminated from the game. Computersystem 130 no longer needs to keep track of the players that are nolonger in the game. Computer system 130 must also discard the decks thatwere generated to equalize the chances for all players, including thosethat have busted out. In step 370, computer system 130 must determinewhether there are enough players left to continue the tournament, or ifthe game is over. If the game is not over, then control passes back tostep 350, where new decks are generated for the remaining players, toequalize their chances of winning hands. Steps 330-370 are then repeateduntil the game is over.

In a preferred embodiment, a heads-up match is played between twoplayers playing Texas Hold'em. As the two players hole cards are notrevealed to each other, unless there is a showdown, the exact same deckmay be used in a future hand, but hole cards dealt to the oppositeplayer. For example, player 1 may be dealt at random (i.e., in step 310)AhJc (ace of hearts and jack of clubs), whereas player 2 may be dealt7s6s (seven of spades and six of spades). In step 320, computer system130 determines that player 1's hand has an expectation value of 0.19 andplayer 2's hand has an expectation value of −0.03. Computer system 130may deal the reverse starting hand to player 1, i.e., 7s6s, and toplayer 2, AhJc, by setting up a new deck that, when dealt, will resultin such a deal. By dealing the same hand in complimentary fashion, theodds of winning based on the starting cards will be equalized.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are screen diagrams that illustrate a previous handdealt by a computer system. As shown in FIG. 4A, the above-mentionedhole cards are dealt to players 1 and 2, and the chances of player 1winning the hand are about 60%, whereas player 2 has a 40% chance ofwinning. Assuming the betting action between the players leads to aflop, three community cards are dealt face up. The chances of eachplayer winning the hand on this street can be determined based onprobability. Players possessing skill can ascertain their approximateodds by determining the number of “outs,” or cards presumptivelyremaining in the deck that the player could draw in order to improve thestrength of his hand. The pre-flop betting and the flop cards areinfluential in a player's likelihood of remaining in the hand. Asillustrated in FIG. 4B, the three community cards comprising a flop of5c4cJh occurred, thereby resulting in player 1 having about 47% chanceto win the hand, and player 2 having about 53% chance.

However, once the flop has occurred, if the exact same hand is replayedin the very next hand, the players may recognize the same flop, and theymay realize the possibility that each has the other's starting handsince the objective of computer system 130 is presumptively known to theplayers. The situation becomes more recognizable as more cards becomerevealed, culminating in a showdown where even the player's startinghand, or hole cards, are revealed.

Fortunately, with the use of high-speed computer system 130, measurescan be taken that are not practically possible in a real-world cardgame. FIGS. 5A and 5B are screen images that illustrate a new hand dealtby computer system 130, suitable for equalizing players' chances ofwinning. In an illustrative example, computer system 130 deals cards asshown in FIG. 5A. As shown in FIG. 5A, hole cards JcKs and 8h9h aredealt to players 2 and 1 respectively, and the chances of player 2winning the hand are about 60%, whereas player 1 has a 40% chance ofwinning. Computer system 130 employs heuristics to disguise a new deckused to present another hand to the opposite players by, for example,rotating the suit of the cards in the deck. In FIG. 5A, the rank of thehole cards was slightly altered, and the suits were rotated. Inparticular, the suited connectors were changed from spades to hearts inplayer 1's hand, and the rank of the top card of player 2's hand waschanged from an ace to a king. Such slight changes does not appreciablyaffect the odds of winning the hand for the players, but the smalldifference can tremendously help disguise the hand, as shown by flopcards illustrated in FIG. 5B. As shown in FIG. 5B, the three communitycards comprising a flop of ThKc7h occurred, thereby resulting in player2 having about 47% chance to win the hand, and player 1 having about 53%chance.

In addition, presentation of hole cards and flop cards can be reorderedor switched to further disguise the replayed deck. As shown in FIG. 4A,the larger rank card comes first in player 1 and 2's hands, whereas thelower rank card comes first in FIG. 5A. FIG. 5B illustrates a flop that,like the hand illustrated in FIG. 4B, reverses the chances of winningthe hand for the players. The card that helps one player make top pairis now in the middle instead of last, and the two cards providing theother player with the dominating straight-flush draw are in high to lowrank order surrounding the middle card, as shown in FIG. 5B, rather thanbeing next to each other, ranking from low to high as shown in FIG. 4B.Of course, the player's skill in recognizing their chances of winningthe hand, and choice of betting line and amount (in a no-limit game),both skill factors, will determine which player ultimately ends upaccumulating more chips in their contest between each other.

Further, computer system 130 can introduce the deal of the so-arrangeddeck to occur at some differing future number of hands to furtherdisguise the similarity of the newly generated deck. In the illustrativeexample, computer system 130 dealt the new deal illustrated in FIGS. 5Aand 5B three hands after the hand illustrated in FIGS. 4A and B, thusdisguising the purpose of the new hand to equalize the winning chancesof the players playing the old hand, and preserving the positionaladvantage afforded to the player on the button (by dealing the new dealan odd number of hands later, to ensure a switch of the dealer button),who gets to act last in the betting after the flop.

Further, computer system 130 may determine that a showdown has occurredwith a previously played deck, and may generate a different set of holecards, flop, turn and river cards such that the same odds of winning thehand on each street is the same for player 2 as it was for player 1 in ahistorical hand, as illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B.

In addition, equalization of the relative expectation value, or odds ofwinning the hand, can be spread over more than one hand by computersystem 130, so that after a certain number of hands, the expectationvalue for the two players is approximately equal.

In an alternative embodiment, only the starting hands (i.e., hole cards)are considered when equalizing the players chances in a heads-up game.The slight differences in the hand percentages can be accumulated andequalized. In yet another embodiment, the odds on every street played inthe hand is equalized by the subsequent new hand or hands.

As is known by one with skill in the art of probability and game theory,it is possible for computer system 130 to extend the heuristicsdescribed above to a six-player or full-ring (10 player) Texas Hold'emgame, so that the percentage chances of winning the same number of handsis equalized among all players participating at the gaming tableinterface. In addition, computer system 130 can run a multi-tabletournament where players are moved to other tables during the course ofthe tournament. In this instance, the new decks generated previouslygenerated should be discarded and new decks generated based on thecombined history of the players now at gaming table, for the remainingplayers to equalize their chances of winning hands, as illustrated inFIG. 3, steps 360, 370 and 350.

In addition, the techniques presented here in the context of a heads-upTexas Hold'em game can be extended to other games, including but notlimited to seven card stud, low ball deuces to seven, balduci, Omaha,HORSE, to other card games besides poker such as gin rummy, spades,canasta, euchre, hearts, pinochle. Further, the techniques presentedherein may also be extended to other mixed games of skill and chanceinvolving dice, dominoes, letter tiles or other random-variablegenerating instrumentalities that introduce chance and involvingplayer's actions, such as betting, forming words for scoring points ormoving game pieces on a game board, such as backgammon, BOGGLE,™YAHTZEE,™ or SCRABBLE,™ all of which require a player's application ofskill when making choices. The computer server may use referencematerials to assist with the equalization and minimization of theapparent element of chance, by for example, consulting referencematerials, such as a dictionary to determine all possible combinationsof words made playable in the language of the game, or makecombinatorical, brute-force determinations to determine possible movesof game pieces on board games. Further, the apparent random selection ofdice, dominoes, letter tiles, or other random-variable generatinginstrumentalities can be delayed during play to ensure that the computercan minimize or eliminate the element of chance. For example, SCRABBLE™players normally take turns drawing tiles from a bag before the firstplayer takes their turn playing tiles. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, tiles can be provided to the player after the player beforethem has played their tiles, and time limits may be set for the currentplayer to play the tiles provided. The computer server can ensure thateach player can be provided tiles from the remaining tiles when it istheir turn, such that each player is provided with an opportunity toscore an equal amount of points when playing tiles, thereby relying onthe player's skill in playing tiles rather than the random provisioningof tiles.

Software on Media

In the specification, the term “media” means any computer-readablemedium that can record data therein. FIG. 6 illustrates examples ofrecordable computer-readable media.

The term “media” includes, for instance, a disk shaped media for 601such as CD-ROM (compact disc-read only memory), magneto optical disc orMO, digital video disc-read only memory or DVD-ROM, digital videodisc-random access memory or DVD-RAM, a floppy disc 602, a memory chip604 such as random access memory or RAM, read only memory or ROM,erasable programmable read only memory or E-PROM, electrical erasableprogrammable read only memory or EE-PROM, a rewriteable card-type readonly memory 605 such as a smart card, a magnetic tape, a hard disc 603,and any other suitable means for storing a program therein.

A recording media storing a program for accomplishing the abovementioned apparatus maybe accomplished by programming functions of theabove mentioned apparatuses with a programming language readable by acomputer 600 or processor, and recording the program on a media such asmentioned above.

A server equipped with a hard disk drive may be employed as a recordingmedia. It is also possible to accomplish the present invention bystoring the above mentioned computer program on such a hard disk in aserver and reading the computer program by other computers through anetwork.

As a computer 600, any suitable device for performing computations inaccordance with a computer program may be used. Examples of such devicesinclude a server, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a nettopcomputer, a microprocessor, a programmable logic device, or anapplication specific integrated circuit.

Having thus described at least illustrative embodiments of theinvention, various modifications and improvements will readily occur tothose skilled in the art and are intended to be within the scope of theinvention. Accordingly, the foregoing description is by way of exampleonly and is not intended as limiting. The invention is limited only asdefined in the following claims and the equivalents thereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer system enabling players to play a wordgame, comprising: a processor; a memory; a computerized gaming tableinterface comprising a display; and software stored on a non-transitorycomputer readable medium that, when loaded into the memory and run bythe processor, causes the processor to perform the steps of: pseudorandomized mixing and dealing of representations of tiles from aplurality of tiles, each tile having a letter and a point value, to eachplayer taking turns playing tiles on a representation of a game boardfor the word game, the board having multipliers for tiles or wordsplayed thereon, the placing of tiles resulting in a score; determiningpossible scores for each player's turn from tiles dealt to each player,available spaces for playing tiles on the board, and multipliers;tracking possible scores available to each player; and creating anordered arrangement of tiles to provide to each player from tilesremaining in the plurality of tiles, such that each player is providedwith an opportunity to score an equal amount of points when playingtiles.
 2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the software stored onthe non-transitory computer readable medium, when loaded into the memoryand run by the processor, causes the processor to perform additionalsteps of comparing tiles held by each player to a dictionary todetermine all possible combinations of words that can be played.
 3. Thecomputer system of claim 2, wherein the software stored on thenon-transitory computer readable medium, when loaded into the memory andrun by the processor, causes the processor to perform additional stepsof equalizing a maximum possible score that each player may attainduring a single round of play.
 4. The computer system of claim 2,wherein the software stored on the non-transitory computer readablemedium, when loaded into the memory and run by the processor, causes theprocessor to perform additional steps of equalizing a maximum possiblescore that each player may attain over a course of a number of rounds ofplay.
 5. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising a separatedisplay for each player.
 6. The computer system of claim 5, wherein eachdisplay is coupled to the processor through an Internet.
 7. The computersystem of claim 1, wherein each player participates in the game on thedisplay at the computerized gaming interface.
 8. A computerized methodfor players to play a word game, comprising: a computer pseudorandomized mixing and dealing of representations of tiles from aplurality of tiles, each tile having a letter and a point value, to eachplayer taking turns playing tiles on a representation of a game boardfor the word game, the board having multipliers for tiles or wordsplayed thereon, the placing of tiles resulting in a score; the computerdetermining possible scores for each player's turn from tiles dealt toeach player, available spaces for playing tiles on the board, andmultipliers; the computer tracking possible scores available to eachplayer; and the computer creating an ordered arrangement of tiles toprovide to each player from tiles remaining in the plurality of tiles,such that each player is provided with an opportunity to score an equalamount of points when playing tiles.
 9. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising the computer comparing tiles held by each player to adictionary to determine all possible combinations of words that can beplayed.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the computerequalizing a maximum possible score that each player may attain during asingle round of play.
 11. The method of claim 9, further comprising thecomputer equalizing a maximum possible score that each player may attainover a course of a number of rounds of play.
 12. The method of claim 8,wherein the players play the word game on separate displays over anInternet.
 13. The method of claim 8, wherein the players play the wordgame at a computerized gaming interface coupled to the computer.
 14. Acomputer system for playing a skill-based Scrabble tournament on theInternet, the system comprising: a computer server comprising aprocessor and memory; at least one player's computer in communicationwith the computer server the computer server over the Internet, thecomputer comprising a display and a user interface; and software storedon one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, which when loadedinto the computer server memory and player's computer and run by theprocessor and player's computer, causes the processor to perform thesteps of: pseudo randomized mixing and dealing of representations oftiles from a plurality of tiles, each tile having a letter and a pointvalue, to each player taking turns playing tiles on a representation ofa game board for the word game, the board having multipliers for tilesor words played thereon, the placing of tiles resulting in a score;determining possible scores for each player's turn from tiles dealt toeach player, available spaces for playing tiles on the board, andmultipliers; tracking possible scores available to each player; andcreating an ordered arrangement of tiles to provide to each player fromtiles remaining in the plurality of tiles, such that each player isprovided with an opportunity to score an equal amount of points whenplaying tiles.